The Location and Function of the Cerebellum in the Brain

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsLocationFunctionsImpactCauses of DamageSymptoms of DamageProtecting the CerebellumHistory

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Location

Functions

Impact

Causes of Damage

Symptoms of Damage

Protecting the Cerebellum

History

Close

Thecerebellum(which is Latin for “little brain”) is a major structure of the hindbrain that is located near the brainstem.

The cerebellum is most directly involved in coordinating voluntary movements. It is also responsible for a number of functions including motor skills such as balance, coordination, and posture.

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Where Is the Cerebellum Located?

The cerebellum is the largest structure of the hindbrain and can be found in the back portion of the skull below the temporal and occipital lobes and behind the brainstem.

When looking at the brain, the cerebellum looks much like a smaller structure separate from the brain, found beneath the hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. The cerebellum consists of a cortex covering white matter, as well as a ventricle filled with fluid. It is also divided into two hemispheres like the cerebral cortex.

There are two main parts of the cerebellum:

The cerebellum makes up just 10% of the total volume of the brain, yet it contains an estimated 50%to 80%of the brain’sneurons.

A Guide to the Anatomy of the Brain

What Are the Functions of the Cerebellum?

The cerebellum is like a “mini-brain” when it comes to movement and plays an important role in coordination, posture, and balance, as well as in speech and a number of important mental processes.

There are several key functions of the cerebellum, including:

Impact of the Cerebellum

The cerebellum has an impact on a number of critical functions.

While the cerebellum is not thought to initiate movement, this part of the brain helps organize all of the actions of the muscle groups involved in a particular movement to ensure that the body is able to produce a fluid, coordinated movement. This includes eye movements and movements associated with speaking.

Mental Functions

Researchers believe the cerebellum plays a role in thinking, including processing language and mood, as well as attention, fear response, and pleasure or reward response.

How Does the Cerebellum Affect Behavior?Though the cerebellum is traditionally associated with motor control, studies are finding that the cerebellum influences emotional regulation, inhibits impulsive decision-making, and affects memory.

How Does the Cerebellum Affect Behavior?

Though the cerebellum is traditionally associated with motor control, studies are finding that the cerebellum influences emotional regulation, inhibits impulsive decision-making, and affects memory.

Balance and Posture

In order to understand the important role that the cerebellum plays, it can be helpful to look at what happens when the function of this part of the brain is impaired.

Drinking alcohol, for example, has an immediate effect on the cerebellum and leads to disruptions in the body’s coordination and movements. People who are severelyintoxicatedmight find that they cannot even walk in a straight line or touch their own nose when instructed.

Motor Learning

When you learn to perform a new skill such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball, you often go through a trial-and-error process. As you fine-tune your motor movements, you eventually become better able to perform the skill, and eventually, you can perform the action seamlessly. The cerebellum plays a critical role in this motor learning process.

Causes of Cerebellum Damage

Damage to the cerebellum, or to its connection to other parts of the nervous system, can be a result of trauma,congenital condition, health conditions, medications, and other factors, including:

Conditions That Affect the Cerebellum

When your cerebellum is damaged, nerve cells break down and die and can cause the following:

In addition, researchers are studying the link between cerebellum dysfunction and the following:

Symptoms of Cerebellum Damage

The following may be signs of injury or damage to the cerebellum:

What Happens If the Cerebellum Is Damaged?Some people who experience damage to the cerebellum develop a condition called ataxia, which causes clumsy movements and impaired coordination.

What Happens If the Cerebellum Is Damaged?

Some people who experience damage to the cerebellum develop a condition called ataxia, which causes clumsy movements and impaired coordination.

See a doctor right away if you experience these or any other unusual symptoms.

How to Protect Your Cerebellum

While you can’t prevent many of the health conditions linked to cerebellum dysfunction, there are some steps you can take to keep your brain healthy and injury-free:

History of the Cerebellum

It was not until the early 19th century, however, that physicians and researchers began to learn more about the functions of this region of the brain.Experimental work that involved ablating portions of the cerebellum in animals revealed that this part of the brain is important in the coordination of movement.

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8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.D’angelo E.The cerebellum gets social.Science. 2019;363(6424):229. doi:10.1126/science.aaw2571Jimsheleishvili S, Dididze M.Neuroanatomy, Cerebellum. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Kniermin J.Neuroscience online: an electronic textbook for the neurosciences. Chapter 5: Cerebellum. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.Phillips JR, Hewedi DH, Eissa AM, et al.The cerebellum and psychiatric disorders.Front Public Health. 2015;3:66. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00066Luo J.Effects of ethanol on the cerebellum: Advances and prospects.Cerebellum. 2015;14(4):383-5. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0674-8Stoodley CJ.The cerebellum and neurodevelopmental disorders.Cerebellum. 2016;15(1):34-37. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0715-3Kuo SH.Ataxia.Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2019;25(4):1036-1054. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000753Schmahmann JD.A brief history of the cerebellum. In: Gruol D., Koibuchi N., Manto M., Molinari M., Schmahmann J., Shen Y. (eds)Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham; 2016.Additional ReadingShepherd G.The Synaptic Organization of the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159561.001.1Carey DP. Cerebellum.Dictionary of Biological Psychology. London: Routledge; 2001.Freberg L.Discovering Biological Psychology.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2009.

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.D’angelo E.The cerebellum gets social.Science. 2019;363(6424):229. doi:10.1126/science.aaw2571Jimsheleishvili S, Dididze M.Neuroanatomy, Cerebellum. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Kniermin J.Neuroscience online: an electronic textbook for the neurosciences. Chapter 5: Cerebellum. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.Phillips JR, Hewedi DH, Eissa AM, et al.The cerebellum and psychiatric disorders.Front Public Health. 2015;3:66. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00066Luo J.Effects of ethanol on the cerebellum: Advances and prospects.Cerebellum. 2015;14(4):383-5. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0674-8Stoodley CJ.The cerebellum and neurodevelopmental disorders.Cerebellum. 2016;15(1):34-37. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0715-3Kuo SH.Ataxia.Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2019;25(4):1036-1054. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000753Schmahmann JD.A brief history of the cerebellum. In: Gruol D., Koibuchi N., Manto M., Molinari M., Schmahmann J., Shen Y. (eds)Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham; 2016.Additional ReadingShepherd G.The Synaptic Organization of the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159561.001.1Carey DP. Cerebellum.Dictionary of Biological Psychology. London: Routledge; 2001.Freberg L.Discovering Biological Psychology.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2009.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

D’angelo E.The cerebellum gets social.Science. 2019;363(6424):229. doi:10.1126/science.aaw2571Jimsheleishvili S, Dididze M.Neuroanatomy, Cerebellum. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Kniermin J.Neuroscience online: an electronic textbook for the neurosciences. Chapter 5: Cerebellum. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.Phillips JR, Hewedi DH, Eissa AM, et al.The cerebellum and psychiatric disorders.Front Public Health. 2015;3:66. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00066Luo J.Effects of ethanol on the cerebellum: Advances and prospects.Cerebellum. 2015;14(4):383-5. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0674-8Stoodley CJ.The cerebellum and neurodevelopmental disorders.Cerebellum. 2016;15(1):34-37. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0715-3Kuo SH.Ataxia.Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2019;25(4):1036-1054. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000753Schmahmann JD.A brief history of the cerebellum. In: Gruol D., Koibuchi N., Manto M., Molinari M., Schmahmann J., Shen Y. (eds)Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham; 2016.

D’angelo E.The cerebellum gets social.Science. 2019;363(6424):229. doi:10.1126/science.aaw2571

Jimsheleishvili S, Dididze M.Neuroanatomy, Cerebellum. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.

Kniermin J.Neuroscience online: an electronic textbook for the neurosciences. Chapter 5: Cerebellum. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Phillips JR, Hewedi DH, Eissa AM, et al.The cerebellum and psychiatric disorders.Front Public Health. 2015;3:66. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00066

Luo J.Effects of ethanol on the cerebellum: Advances and prospects.Cerebellum. 2015;14(4):383-5. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0674-8

Stoodley CJ.The cerebellum and neurodevelopmental disorders.Cerebellum. 2016;15(1):34-37. doi:10.1007/s12311-015-0715-3

Kuo SH.Ataxia.Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2019;25(4):1036-1054. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000753

Schmahmann JD.A brief history of the cerebellum. In: Gruol D., Koibuchi N., Manto M., Molinari M., Schmahmann J., Shen Y. (eds)Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham; 2016.

Shepherd G.The Synaptic Organization of the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159561.001.1Carey DP. Cerebellum.Dictionary of Biological Psychology. London: Routledge; 2001.Freberg L.Discovering Biological Psychology.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2009.

Shepherd G.The Synaptic Organization of the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159561.001.1

Carey DP. Cerebellum.Dictionary of Biological Psychology. London: Routledge; 2001.

Freberg L.Discovering Biological Psychology.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth; 2009.

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